The PSP8 Survival Kit

Prefer this tutorial in a larger, easier-to-read format? You can find it right here.

Introduction. Jasc have now released PSP 8, and its interface and tools are radically different from what we 'old hands' are used to seeing in previous versions of PSP. I've been using Paint Shop Pro since V5 (o.k. you can bring out the violins ;-) but I've never seen such a major revamp as this one. As Jasc themselves say in their 'What's New' introduction to the Public Beta version of 8: "Perhaps it would be better to talk about what isn’t new in PSP 8". Hmmmm....

So, tongue-in-cheek, I've named this tut the 'PSP8 Survival Kit' because I think that quite a few people out there are gonna need a little sustenance through all of these big changes ;-) (Oh, if you're an absolute beginner with PSP, you are perhaps much better off than you realise, because you won't have to unlearn previous ways of doing things us 'oldies' will have to).

Here's a little tip: Please don't worry if your screen doesn't show you exactly what appears in my screenshots below - we'll get by, trust me. It's because I've already customized some settings, and due to the many changes that occurred during the Beta releases, (bug squashing, etc.) Jasc often shook things up a little bit. So, don't panic if things look different sometimes, the basics are all still the same. I worked my tail off trying to keep up with the changes as they were happening, but please bear with me if I've missed a couple along the way. Screenshots in the tutorial are based on several of the Beta versions, namely Betas 1, 4, 5, and 7 releases.

For news of updates etc, I strongly recommend you bookmark my home page because this is where you'll find all the latest information. Finally, if you have any comments, suggestions or problems with understanding this tutorial please don't hesitate to contact me at the link above.

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1. The Interface. First of all, let's check out the new user interface; it's been completely redesigned. At fist glance it doesn't look all that different from PSP7 - but believe me, it is. For one thing, it's now much more like Adobe Photoshop, with the toolbox options appearing in a much more in-depth format across the top of the interface. This new toolbox bar is referred to by Jasc as the 'tool ribbon' (see below, where you'll notice the tool ribbon contains options for the pan tool, or what used to be known as the arrow tool). The old-style tool options boxes, and the toggle tool options icon we're all used to have now disappeared (a moment's silence out of respect please.....;-) The toolbox options for ALL the tools now appear in this new format, and you'll notice several tools have also changed categories (more on this later). The old color palette has also been redesigned. This is now known as the 'Materials' palette. But, for all the changes, it still offers users a great deal of flexibility in setting up the interface to suit individual taste.

Yeah......different huh?! Let's take things slowly and go over all this stuff bit by bit. Before we get started however, here's a big hint - change your docking options first! Huh?? I hear you ask.......let me explain. I almost went around the bend when I first began playing with the new interface. The palettes I always like keeping permanently open (color - now Materials - and layer palette*) seemed to move around and dock themselves to all points of the compass when I least wanted them to! This was soooo frustrating at first, until I found out how to stop them from moving around and latching onto places where they didn't belong.

(* Don't worry if you don't see your layer palette anywhere - we'll get to that later)

If you think this will frustrate you too, here's how to fix it. Remember how I was talking about greater flexibility above? Here's our first example. PSP8 gives you the choice of having either 'floating' or 'docked' palettes and toolbars (again very similar to Photoshop). Now, this one is going to be a matter of personal choice I know, but until you get your bearings with all of this I strongly recommend you set your palettes to Floating. You'll find life a lot easier if you do....trust me.

You can do this either by going to View>Docking Options on the drop-down menu, or by right-clicking anywhere on the blank areas of either of the toolbars (see examples below - I prefer the second way as it's much quicker because you don't have to wade through the longer menu - but that's a matter of personal choice). Clicking on 'Docking Options will bring up a large dialogue box. (If it's not already at the front, click on the 'Palettes' tab).

Once you see the Palettes box, you'll see the list: 'Allow Docking Options'. DESELECT the 'layer' and 'materials' and checkboxes. (Note: you can always change them back any time by simply reversing what we've just done). Another way of changing the docking options of both the palettes and toolboxes can be done by clicking on File>Preferences>General Program Preference>Palettes. Tip: once you have everything just where you're happy to keep it, save it as a workspace....File>Workspace>Save. Then, if you have any mishaps you can get back to normal quickly again.

Right-click anywhere on the blank areas of the toolbars to change docking options

2. The Materials Palette. As mentioned above, the color palette has been renamed 'Materials' in V8 - and that's not the only difference. You'll now see something called 'Swatches' (more on that in a minute). I prefer to work with the old-style color palette showing, so if your interface has opened with 'Swatches' displayed, or if you've accidentally changed it and you'd prefer to work with the old-look color palette, here's how to change that as well.

If the Materials palette looks like this (see left) it's set to Swatches. To change it to Color, simply click on the little rainbow-coloured square (as shown) and voila! The old-style color palette will appear (and yes...I know it's not exactly the same!) To change back to the Swatches click on the Swatch icon (those little coloured dots, see right).

But wait a minute....just what the heck is a swatch?? To find out more, let's take another magical mystery tour into this great new, souped-up edition of Paint Shop Pro.